Dying young, 2011
by shambell
Summary: NOT my characters or song. Thoughts on how Andromeda copes at the memorial. Mentions Mad eye, Draco, Emmeline, Remus, Ted, Teddy and harry. Includes; Andromeda, Narcissa, Bellatrix, Sirius and Nymphadora and Charlie Weasley. Rated T- for dark themes. Review and rate please.


The year was 2011; her grandson was thirteen years old. He was in this second year and already an orphan. He had attended his memorial service for his parents and many others for the second year running. Andromeda Tonks, _No_ she reminded herself, _not anymore_. Andromeda Black that was what she was left with. She bitterly thought of how her name had changed, gone were the days of the Tonks'. The thought of that alone left her anguished.

 _Why them? Why my family? What happened? How did it all go wrong?_ These were the questions she has been asking herself since June, 1996. That was the Sirius was lost, her good friend Emmeline soon after. The veteran warrior whom attended her Sunday meals was lost not a year after. Then Ted, her husband, best friend, love of her life, father of her child. _Oh god, her child,_ she scolded herself. If she let her mind wonder too far, she knew she would lose herself, and that was before the thought of her sister.

No today was the day she would sit with Teddy, _not Ted_ she reminded herself once more, he was gone the boy next to her, whose hair normally Turquoise was alive. _Her family,_ again darker thoughts swam forward _all the family she has left._ She was from an elite pureblood family, _and where are they now? The great blacks and yet only blood traitor remain. No,_ she was wrong, her mother, technically a black was still here, as was her sister and her family. _The one she at least got to keep, unlike the rest of us._

Teddy may have been orphaned at a few weeks but did grow with love surrounding him, Andromeda couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking, and his hair was black. Though she wasn't entirely sure if he had made it that way, his mother could do that. Her daughter, her baby girl, her little fighter, could do that. _Not anymore._ Her 'sister' had ensured that.

Hogwarts was packed, everyone wanted to be here, the likes or Rita Skeeter were trying to get a word out of the survivors. She even had the audacity to try and speak to her and Teddy. Charlie saved them from that, little Charlie Weasley, the boy who would chase her little Nymph around the garden, both covered in mood. Charlie, the boy who sat with her rainbow haired girl on their first ride to Hogwarts. Charlie, the teenager who nervously shook with fear when he sat next her teenage girl, awaiting her approval. Charlie the blindly in love fool, who took her princess to the Yule ball. Charlie the idiot, best friend who had his own dreams which broke her daughters' heart. Charlie the young man who cheered her young lady up, when she was upset. Charlie the blubbering mess cradling the lifeless witch beneath his, not letting anyone except her near them. Charlie the son she never had holding her grandson's hand through her son-in-laws funeral. Charlie the broken adult who seemed numb at her daughter's funeral. Charlie who never seemed to recover. Charlie whose partonus had changed to a jack rabbit to match his love, his best-friend, his anchor. Though it is rarely seen and those who see it never knew of her daughter's original patronus.

Andromeda supposed he was family too, he loved her little girl with all his heart, probably the reason he distances himself now. Not from her or Teddy though, never from them. He seemed angry today, at the reporters, at the crowd, at life or maybe the lack of it. His younger brother had also been lost on this day, his guilt for missing Dorrie just as much appeared to eat away at him. She couldn't actually concentrate right now, she was thinking so many things and that new song that had recently come out was playing, further distracting her.

One of her first thoughts was that, they were being inconsiderate, a lot of the people, whom had lost their lives in the battle could have died on the 1st of May, not the 2nd. The battle started during the right and only stopped early hour the next day, Remus could have died on the 1st. Not her baby though, she knew when that happened, she felt it. That and the then baby Teddy burst into tears his hair turning jet black. That was when she was sure that the little slither of hope of keeping her family had gone, forever.

She still could not say her name; she knew that she was not going to hear a furious response and she still didn't think she was ready not to hear it. This would be her 12th year that the school had held a memorial. The second one she had attended. That song was playing still, something about sinking somebody in a river at dawn. _Well that's different_. Looking around the crowd, Andromeda found herself looking at pale blonde hair, instantly she knew it was her sister. _Narcissa, Cissy, well it couldn't well be Bella now could it? She was having too much fun, taunting Molly Weasley to keep her defence up._ Though in her defence she was probably on a high, reeling in the fact she had gotten rid of two stains on the family tree. _Yes, by shooting Sirius through the veil, and NO._ She wasn't going to think how her older sister had extinguished her daughter, taking her breath from her. She didn't even know what had happened that day; Charlie had done his best to hide the worst of what her sister had done. Though in her heart she knew her daughter would have died horribly, painfully and slow, probably would have been even longer had that snake not called them back.

There was that song again, going on about love songs, not really appropriate for a day like this. **"Make me a rainbow, I'll shine down on my mother. "** _Oh god no. NO, those lyrics._ This time Andromeda had heard them clearly, not once had she cried in public and only one when her daughter had died did she cry. That was when Narcissa told me it was Bellatrix, _my own sister_. _She knew full well who she was, she knew it was my daughter she was torturing. She knew full well it was Nymphad. No, I had almost said it, not her name._ Her eyes were glistening, she knew from her blurred vision. Others had started to look to her as well; they must have heard the lyrics. Missing the next line as a result of her thought Andromeda paid closer attention to the music. She couldn't listen to Harry drone on about how he blamed himself for those lost, about how he was grateful for their sacrifice. She scoffed; drawing a few more eyes to her, even that of Teddy, she shouldn't help it she knew the death eaters didn't intend to give their lives up for Harry. The people around looked back to him after seeing she wasn't going to give them a response. _Yeah, I bet Bella was sooooo pleased to give her life to you. Maybe she even died just in honour, for you. Yeah, unlikely anyone intended to die to save you._ Her thoughts were interrupted by the next line. **"Life ain't always what you think it ought to be,"** _No kidding._ Her eyes were getting mistier but she was determined not to cry. Then she heard Harry say her name, _her baby_. Not Tonks that she demanded to be called no, Nymphadora. The name she had chosen when her baby was hours old. She couldn't bear it; she had managed to avoid that name now all the memories coming back. The arguments cause by calling Tonks that name, the fights they had had, the love they had, the laughter they shared, the tears they used, the joy they felt when Teddy was born. It call came rushing back. **"Ain't even grey, but she buries her baby".** _Well the song isn't wrong. I wasn't even grey when she left. When she was murdered by my own_ _ **damn**_ _flesh and blood. And now I cannot grieve for my sister._ Andromeda felt hot tears slide down her pale face, down her aristocratic features, those being a result of her pureblood. " **The sharp knife of a short life".** That was it that was all she could take, her mind flashing back to that scarring day. The ivory knife with the constellations Bellatrix and Vulpecula engraved in it. One for her sister, the other for the name they had agreed that they would name their first born girl. The very knife she had given her sister before she had left the family forever. The knife that had her daughter's middle name engraved on it. The knife that she found covered in blood, that had torn open Nymphadora's pale, thin neck, leaving a jagged cut. The knife that was sticking out of her daughter's shoulder, the very same shoulder she had her constellation and Sirius' tattooed on.

It was too much the references, her name, the fleeting look her sister had given her as she walked in, the same look that Nymphadora had inherited from Andromeda's older sister Bellatrix. The very look she had just given Harry, Charlie as she ran from the service, the same look Draco had on him when she ran into him hiding nearby.


End file.
